Sorry for the wait on this chapter. Heh (Wait... Like the title... Get it?) I always have a hard time on chapters that borrow dialogue directly from the show. Credit to Steven Moffat for those pieces included here.
***WARNING: Contains spoilers for Day of the Doctor***
Should the mission to contact the Doctor fail, then Pete's world would have never been created in the first place. Theoretically, it would blink out of existence. If that was true, then the mission had not yet been compromised by Rose's actions, because they were all still standing around in her guest suite at the Citadel. It was, however, entirely possible that the High Council of Time Lords had some way to protect themselves against a classic 'Grandfather Paradox', at least temporarily. Whatever the case, Rose felt guilty.
The Time Expansion Inhibitor turned out to be that silly hourglass thing which she had accidentally broken. She should have known that there was no such thing as a purely decorative piece when it came to Gallifreyan artifacts. The Time Lords had not seemed upset at her when she immediately confessed to the crime, they had instead all gathered on the other side of her suite and conferred amongst themselves, in their native language.
Rose pretended not to care that they were discussing her, and focused instead on the half constructed Dimensional Coaxial Fusion Device (as they called it). It was a very complex looking apparatus currently occupying the center of her room. Little spinny things whirred around inside of it, and several fat cables extended from it into her Tardis but were, as of yet, unattached.
Eventually, the Time Lords stopped their whispering and Romana approached her. "Do you remember roughly how long your mind held onto the Vortex the last time you became Bad Wolf?"
"The Doctor told me it was 10 minutes, from when I arrived at the Game Station."
Romana's expression was completely without mirth. "Your human body adapted to the pressure of containing the Vortex for 10 minutes, by extending your life roughly 357.43 years... 10 minutes resulted in 357.43 years... That is a staggering ratio, especially for a species that has only evolved to live for 80 years in total. The Time Expansion Inhibitor's purpose was to prevent that effect."
"But you can fix it, yeah? The hourglass?"
"No… Not without time travel. I'm sorry Rose... Your projection is still of utmost importance to us, but we cannot force you to undertake this endeavor given the consequences. It has to be your decision."
Without a thought, Rose replied. "If I don't go, Gallifrey will have been destroyed. That's completely unacceptable. As I see it, there's no decision to be made here. You will not die if I can prevent it."
"So shall it be." Romana nodded to her comrades and they resumed work on the apparatus. "Thank you Rose Tyler. May you always been known as the Undying Hope of Gallifrey." She bowed her head solemnly and rested her hand on Rose's shoulder. Rose secretly blanched at the word 'undying'.
The other Time Lords hurried about the room, finishing preparations in a hushed reverence for her sacrifice. It wasn't that big of a sacrifice was it? Their entire race was nearly immortal. Besides, now that she knew her dreams were linked to the Doctor, she could live vicariously through them and be happy for a long time. Couldn't she?
Unbidden thoughts of Captain Jack Harkness filled her mind. The way Bad Wolf had prolonged his life indefinitely had caused him so much anguish. Was Jack the Face of Boe as her husband had once conjectured? If so, would she be doomed to the same fate: to become an old, lonely, disembodied head traveling the galaxies confined to a tub of goo? Or would she become more like Cassandra, a flap of skin stretched too thin to be able to experience any compassion or joy? This was not a good train of thought if she hoped to maintain her resolve.
Fortunately, a telepathic shriek from the Tardis, helped to clear her thoughts. Rose abandoned her perch on the edge of the bed, and strode through the big blue police box door. The Chancellor was trying to remove the floor grating beneath the console, but the time ship wanted none of it.
She tried to calm her ship as best she could. "The Chancellor needs to hook up these cables to your heart so that you can go with me into the other universe. I would do it myself, but I don't know how. Please work with him?"
The Tardis relented and released the grating with a sneer, but not before giving the Chancellor a substantial shock. The startled Time Lord gave Rose a bit of a dirty look when she was unable to suppress a giggle.
The fast working Time Lords soon had the projection device up and running. When it was finished, there was one lead extending from the heart of her Tardis and a matching lead coming off of the main part of the device in her room. All Rose would need to do was touch the two leads together and complete the circuit. It seemed easy enough.
Romana had been pacing the room anxiously for the better part of the last hour. More than likely, she was concerned that if given too much time to reflect on it, Rose would reverse her decision. It's not that she was trying to rush Rose, but the sooner she sent Rose into the other universe, the sooner she would be certain of the fate of her people. The Chancellor handed Romana the two finished leads, which she accepted dutifully.
"It's time. Are you ready?"
Rose shrugged. "No time like the present."
Romana laughed in spite of herself. "I like you, Rose. I want you know that you are welcome to spend the rest of your days here on Gallifrey with us. It can't be easy living as long as you do on Earth, and having no one to talk to about it."
"Thank you, Romana. I think I'd like that."
"Good luck, and remember to let Bad Wolf do the talking to the War Doctor. You might be disoriented when you first get through, but try not to fight Bad Wolf's presence in your mind."
Rose took the two wires from the Time Lady's outstretched hands. The nearby Tardis tried to hide its trepidation from her, as she sent waves of telepathic reassurance. After a deep cleansing breath, Rose carefully brought the two ends together. An electric arc leapt between them with a blinding flash, and sent her head reeling.
...
It was bright and hot... Was that real? Or was that residual energy from being thrust into another universe? Nope... It was definitely bright and hot. Beyond that, all she could feel was someone repeating 'no more, no more' in the back of her mind... Oh and a box.
A beautiful, brass inlaid, clockwork box... She was sitting on the box. Box... Box... Box... What a funny word, box... Moment! Now that's a lovely word... Moment and Wolf, both lovely... Bad Wolf specifically...Bad Wolf integrating with the Moment... Downloading... Downloading... Program installation complete. Commence Moment interface dialogue.
"Hello? Is somebody there?"
"It's nothing. It's just a wolf." She heard herself say.
...
"You're the interface?" The gruff older man obviously felt ill at ease with the entire situation.
Honestly, Rose felt much the same way. It frightened her to hear words coming out of her mouth that were not her own. Her mouth just kept right on talking without her permission. "They must have told you the Moment had a conscience. Hello! Oh, look at you. Stuck between a girl and a box. Story of your life, eh, Doctor?"
Doctor!? This is the Doctor?!
"You know me?" He asked.
Oh Doctor! I missed you so much. I wish you could hear me!
"I hear you. All of you, jangling around in that dusty old head of yours. I chose this face and form especially for you. It's from your past. Or possibly your future. I always get those two mixed up."
"I don't have a future." The man looked miserable, completely resigned to his fate. It tore at Rose's heart to see him this way.
Yes you do! We have a future together!
Rose mustered all of her strength to talk to him, to force her own words out of her lips. "I think I'm called Rose Tyler." Bad Wolf pushed back. "No." She felt like she was screaming at the top of her lungs. "Yes!" Why is communicating so difficult? It felt like her words were pre-programmed. Oh, shit, they are supposed to be programmed! Let the Bad Wolf program do the talking, that's what Romana had said, she remembered now. Rose choked back her tears and gave up control. "No, sorry, no, no, in this form, I'm called Bad Wolf. Are you afraid of the big bad wolf, Doctor?"
"Stop calling me Doctor!" He snapped.
"That's the name in your head."
And the pain in your eyes. Rose thought to herself. I'd know it anywhere.
The old man shook his head. "It shouldn't be. I've been fighting this war for a long time. I've lost the right to be the Doctor."
Dear man... Have courage... You're the one to save us all.
"Then you're the one to save us all."
...
"You're not actually suggesting that we change our own personal history?" Said the pinstriped Tenth Doctor.
"We change history all the time. I'm suggesting far worse." The Eleventh, floppy haired, version of him replied. "Gentlemen, I have had four hundred years to think about this. I've changed my mind." And with that, he aimed his sonic screwdriver at the Moment and the red button descended back into the box.
The War Doctor was still confused. "There's still a billion billion daleks up there, attacking."
"Yeah, there is. There is." Eleven, nodded.
"But there's something those billion billion daleks don't know." Ten added.
"Because if they did, they'd probably send for reinforcements."
Clara's eyes widened. "What? What don't they know?"
"This time, there's three of us." Eleven looked so pleased with himself, that his infectious hope spread across all of their faces.
"Oh! Oh, yes, that is good. That is brilliant!" Exclaimed the Warrior.
"Ha, ha, ha! I've been thinking about it for centuries." The Eleventh Doctor whooped and cheered with the Tenth. Rose thought that they might start dancing together. Peas in a pod, those two were.
The Warrior turned back toward Rose, eye's sparking. "She didn't just show me any old future, she showed me exactly the future I needed to see."
"Now you're getting it." Rose heard herself say involuntarily. She even felt Bad Wolf smiling.
"Oh, Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you." The War Doctor beamed.
Rose laughed and accidently blurted out from behind Bad Wolf: "Yeah, that's going to happen."
Her pinstriped Tenth Doctor cocked his head to one side. "Sorry, did you just say Bad Wolf?"
Yep!
Rose wanted nothing more than to reach for him then, but it wouldn't have done any good. He still couldn't see or hear her. Patience, she told herself. As soon as they had finished sealing Gallifrey's fate, he would be able to see her. The mission was almost accomplished. Rose could already feel the energy from the second projection welling up in her belly… or was that butterflies?
...
Gallifrey stands!
To have said that day was the most emotionally volitile day of his long life would have been a colossal understatement. He stood side by side with every version of himself he had ever known after simultaneously re-living the last miserable days of the Time War and re-writing history to save Gallifrey. Repressed memories from the younger men next to him, assaulted him; saving Gallifrey over and over again in different bodies, each time being forced to forget. Pity he would have to repress it all soon, as well.
Despite being completely drained of energy, his step was noticeably lighter when he returned to his ship; one, in a long line of blue police boxes. In front of the next box, he saw the man with the bow-tie that he would become, and envied him for not having to forget. The Doctor decided that he would sleep tonight with the memories intact, to allow himself one night's rest, free of the nightmares. Tomorrow he would forget properly, but tonight he would dream.
He closed the Tardis door behind him, but kept the ambient lights low since he was so terribly exhausted. Perhaps he would dream of Rose again, without being interrupted by daleks this time. Yes, that would be good. Uninterrupted Rose-dreams were the best dreams. He could almost hear her voice already.
"Hello."
Wait, was he dreaming? That sounded way too real, even for his brilliant imagination to have conjured up. He whirled around and caught sight of the little pink and yellow human sitting casually on his jump seat. The Doctor froze mid stride, and both his hearts stopped beating.
